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It was a long way to go, and finally we arrived in Kazan [about 900 km from Moscow], wherefrom some people were sent to Chelyabinsk, but our family stayed in Tataria. Kolkhoz people on carts met the evacuees at the train station in Kazan and took them to the kolkhozes [18]. Nobody was left in Kazan. The militaries had the lists of evacuees and supervised the allocation. Our family was sent to the kolkhoz Shura, not far from Kazan. One more family of Estonian evacuees went with us.
We were taken to the kolkhoz and housed in a vacated house. There was one room and a kitchen. There was a large Russian stove [19] in the wall between the rooms. It was used for heating the house and cooking. There was no furniture. The chairman of the kolkhoz sent a carpenter to us, who made big bunks along the wall for us. They gave us empty sacks. We put straw in there and used them as mattresses. Mother had brought along pillows and blankets for us. There weren't enough blankets for everybody, so one blanket was used for two people.
We had a hard living. The second family, which came with us, shortly after left Shura and moved to Kirov. Father was not willing to go. Our large family had no place to go. We thought that the war would end in half a year, or in a year in the worst case scenario, and we would be able to go back home. We didn't have many things with us. Mother took winter coats, underwear and a little bit of gold. When a baby was born in our family, Father always gave Mother some golden jewelry: a ring or ear-rings. That gold was of big help for us at the beginning of the war. Mother exchanged gold for products. Unfortunately, we ran out of the gold pieces pretty quickly.
We were taken to the kolkhoz and housed in a vacated house. There was one room and a kitchen. There was a large Russian stove [19] in the wall between the rooms. It was used for heating the house and cooking. There was no furniture. The chairman of the kolkhoz sent a carpenter to us, who made big bunks along the wall for us. They gave us empty sacks. We put straw in there and used them as mattresses. Mother had brought along pillows and blankets for us. There weren't enough blankets for everybody, so one blanket was used for two people.
We had a hard living. The second family, which came with us, shortly after left Shura and moved to Kirov. Father was not willing to go. Our large family had no place to go. We thought that the war would end in half a year, or in a year in the worst case scenario, and we would be able to go back home. We didn't have many things with us. Mother took winter coats, underwear and a little bit of gold. When a baby was born in our family, Father always gave Mother some golden jewelry: a ring or ear-rings. That gold was of big help for us at the beginning of the war. Mother exchanged gold for products. Unfortunately, we ran out of the gold pieces pretty quickly.
Period
Location
Kazan
Russia
Interview
Dina Kuremaa